Sharp electronic organizers with the IC card slot (Wizard OZ/IQ/PA/PI series)

[rprosperi]

(12-31-2021 05:58 PM)badaze Wrote:  Sharp also released "Blank programming" cards allowing users or programmers to develop and distribute specific software.

For retail/consumer sales, Sharp sold the "Scientific Computer Card" with BASIC, AER, predefined scientific functions assigned to the touchpad cells with function labels painted on the card (as seen several posts above) and had 32KB RAM for programs and file storage. There were 16 and 16/40-column versions of these cards.

For VAR/ISV/Corporate sales, Sharp sold 2 of the 'Blank' "Program Cards", in 32K and 128K RAM sizes, and though the face of these cards were not painted with the scientific key assignments, the cards actually behaved exactly the same as the Scientific Computer Cards, so pressing the touchpad on the 'Blank' cell of the Program Card, which is painted with "SIN" on the retail card, would execute the SIN function. Of course these cells could be easily customized to run programs, pick menu choices, etc.

A lot of the 32K "Program Cards" were sold, but very few of the 128K cards were sold, since most applications could be easily implemented using the smaller (and cheaper!) cards.

Also, note that in the card with the custom label seen in badaze's photo, there is a yellow circle sticker covering the BASIC logo. This is not random, and often explained as a simple version identifier, but actually it was to hide the fact that the card utilized BASIC, as many ISV's feared customers would see this as primitive or old technology. Although more than one ISV asked Sharp to have BASIC removed from the card's label, the programs delivered on these cards were fast enough, solid and reliable.